7th Grade Honors Social Studies Name __________________
Modified from Mr. Fassold’s Website Date __________ Per ____
“Gandhi”
Directions: Please answer the following questions as you watch the film.
“Gandhi on the train in South Africa”
Description: A young Gandhi travels to South Africa and experiences racism and
injustice first hand. Gandhi receives an explanation of the racial rules in South Africa but
believes the rules to be unacceptable. Gandhi has his first run in with the law and draws
his first crowd. Read the paragraph below for background on the race designations in
South Africa at the time of Gandhi.
With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized.
Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between
non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning “white-only” jobs. In 90, the Population
Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three
categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent. The colored category
included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was
based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. For example, a white person was
defined as “in appearance obviously a white person or generally accepted as a white
person.” A person could not be considered white if one of his or her parents were
nonwhite. The determination that a person was “obviously white” would take into
account “his habits, education, and speech and deportment and demeanor.” A black
person would be of or accepted as a member of an African tribe or race, and a colored
person is one that is not black or white. The Department of Home Affairs (a government
bureau was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Non-compliance with the
race laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required to carry “pass books:
containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.
(Source History of South Africa Web Site – Africa National Congress)
1. Gandhi would have been considered what social class in the South African social pyramid?
2. Why would Gandhi choose to use letter writing and the press instead of
violence to change the apartheid laws?
“The Burning of the Travel Passes”
Description: Gandhi makes his first public speech after deciding to take action against
the South African government. George Houser wrote the following about non-violent
resistance in the journal, Equality, in May 1945:
A person trying to practice non-violence will refuse to retaliate violently.
He merely absorbs the physical punishment. This sounds crazy to the
average person, who has been taught to protect himself by retaliating
when attacked, even if he does take a beating in the process. Why, then,
is non-retaliation essential to the non-violent approach? From the
negative standpoint, if non-violence is forsaken by the minority group it
means the police can be called to arrest them. From the positive point of
view, non-retaliatory action may make possible the winning of the support
of the public, of the police, and of the opposition.
3. After reading the Houser paragraph, why would Gandhi be willing to take a
beating without physically fighting back? What was he trying to achieve?
“Gandhi Meets the Reverent Charlie Andrews”
Gandhi reveals his study of other religions when he and Charlie run into the
three thugs on the street. Read the excerpt from a Christian sermon describing
the incident:
“God is still moving stones, not only in individuals and families, but in societies, and
cultures. Mahatma Gandhi read a book by Leo Tolstoy titled, The Kingdom of God is
Within You, and decided to live by the literal principles taught y Jesus in the Sermon on
the Mount. The movie Gandhi contains a wonderful scene in which Gandhi tries to
explain his philosophy of non-violence to the Presbyterian missionary Charlie Andrews.
Walking together, the two suddenly find their way blocked by a group of young thugs.
Rev. Andrews starts to move away, but Gandhi stops him. “Doesn’t the New Testament
say if an enemy strikes you on the right cheek you should offer him the left?” Andrews
mumbles that he thought the phrase was used metaphorically. “I’m not so sure, “
replies Gandhi, “I suspect He meant you must show courage – be willing to take a blow,
several blows, to show you will not strike back, nor will you be turned aside. And when
you do that, it calls on something in human nature, something that makes hatred
decrease and respect increase. I think Christ grasped that and I have seen it work.”
4. How does Gandhi interpret Matthew 5:39-40’s, “But I say unto you, that ye
resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him
the other also. And if any man take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also.”
Gandhi’s Second Speech about General Smuts’ New Law
Description: Gandhi addresses General Smuts’ new law that stated that all Indians
must be fingerprinted, all non-Christian marriages are considered invalid, and no
warrants are required for search and seizure. General Jan Christian Smuts was the
regional governor of the Transvaal region of South Africa. Vince Walker of the New York
Times meets Gandhi:
5. Mr. Walker asks Gandhi if he would obey General Smuts’ new law. Walker asks
Gandhi if he would “respect the law.” Walker goes on to question how a minority could
take on the British Empire. Gandhi answers, “If you are a minority of one, the truth
is the truth.” Where does this idea come from? Explain?
Background: Gandhi set up two communal farms or ashrams while he was there, his
purpose being to demonstrate the practicality of communal living, whatever one’s
religion or economic status. Everyone was to share labor equally. To caste-conscious
Hindus, cleaning outhouses was a job fit for only the “Untouchables,” a notion which
Gandhi felt that Hindus must reject since it was much like the racial prejudice whites
showed toward Indians and Africans. A bitter argument was resolved only when Gandhi
humbled himself and admitted that his behavior was indefensible and asked his wife’s
forgiveness. Gandhi’s shocking outburst of verbal and physical anger toward his wife
pointed out the difficulty of patiently trying to maintain one’s high principles, especially
when one’s beliefs were different from those deeply ingrained by ancient cultural norms.
Gandhi’s inclusion of India’s lowest caste into his community caused Gandhi criticism
throughout his life, but he was committed on principle to their full acceptance and he
ultimately named them Harijans (Children of God).
6. Gandhi gets angry at his wife Kasturba or Ba for her refusal to “rake and
cover” the latrines (outdoor bathrooms). Ba argues that the work is the work
of “untouchables.”
a) What religion is Ba? ________________________________________
b) What is an untouchable?
Gandhi’s Second Speech about General Smuts’ New Law
Description: Gandhi addresses General Smuts’ new law in front of a much larger crowd.
Gandhi says, “I too am prepared to die for this cause, but there is no cause that
I am willing to kill.” And “We will not strike a blow but we will receive them.”
7. What form of protest is this?
8. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote in the Christian Century Magazine (1957) “Privileged
groups rarely give up their privileges without strong resistance. Hence the basic
question which confronts the world’s oppressed is: How is the struggle against the forces
of injustice to be waged? The alternative to violence is non-violent resistance. The non-
violent resister must often express his protest through non-cooperation or boycotts, but
he realized that non-cooperation and boycotts are not ends in themselves; they are
merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent.” What does Dr.
King say is the goal of non-violent resistance?
“Gandhi Returns to India”
Description: Gandhi returns to Bombay, India in 1915. Gandhi wears traditional Indian
dress to match his “brothers” in prison. Gandhi tells a reporter that he would support
the British in World War I. Gandhi’s wife answers a reporter about the indignity of a
prison by stating that “she gets her dignity from following her husband.”
9. Why would Gandhi support the British during World War I after his trials in
South Africa?
10. It is important to understand why the British would want to keep India.
Lord Curzon, considered by many to have been the best Viceroy of India,
explained:
“India is not merely a magnificent jeweled pendant hanging from the
Imperial collar, capable of being detached from there without making any
particular difference to its symmetry or strength. It is the strategic center of
imperial defense, the granary of Britain, the source of plantation labor for the
colonies, and of raw materials from the home industries. It is an outlet for
British capital and manufacture and a training ground for young Britons in
the arts of peace and war.”
What does Britain gain from having India as a colony?
1. __________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________
Gandhi is introduced to five people immediately after getting off the ship in India
1. Patel
2. Nehru
3. Jinnah
4. Gokhale – Gandhi’s mentor Gokhale was the leader of the moderate wing.
Gokhale was a professor of English and economics. He was a brilliant
intellectual and an impressive person. He sought for India self –
government within the British Empire by gradual constitutional methods.
5. Bagash
11. After Gandhi returns to India, he travels the country side for a year in an attempt to
learn about his country before he makes any public speeches or commitments. What
are your impressions of the countryside? Why did Gandhi travel third class?
“Gandhi Speaks to the Indian National Congress”
Description: Speeches after World War I about Indian Home Rule in 1918. The Indian
National Congress is an organization of important Indian Leaders who want India to rule
itself. The first person to speak is the Muslim leader, Mohammed Ali – Jinnah.
12. What is the main idea presented in Ali – Jinnah’s message?
13. Written below is a portion of the address that Gandhi delivered to the
Indian National Congress.
“And yet I already know what we see here means nothing to the masses of
our country. We make speeches for each other, British liberal magazines
that may grant us a few lines. But the people of Indian are untouched. Their
politics are confined to bread and salt. Illiterate they may be but they are
not blind they see no reason to give their loyalty to rich and powerful men
who simply want to take over the role of the British in the name of freedom.
This Congress tells the world it represents Indian. My brothers, India is
700,000 villages, not a few hundred lawyers in Delhi and Bombay. Until we
stand in the field with the millions that toil each day under the hot sun, we
will not represent India. Nor will we ever be able to challenge the British as
one nation.”
Explain what Gandhi meant in your own words:
/
14. Gandhi is visited by an old man. What is the man’s tragic news?
15. How does Gandhi help the man and his village? What is the message they
are sending to the British?
16. One of Gandhi’s good friends is a British clergyman named Charlie Andrews. Gandhi
& Andrews have known each other since their work in the protest movement in South
Africa. Charlie notices and comments on a change in Gandhi’s appearance.
How has Gandhi’s appearance changed? How do you account for the change?
At a later meeting with Mr. Patel, Mr. Nehru, and Mr. Ali – Jinnah, Gandhi
explains his ideas about passive resistance.
“If I may, I for one have never advocated passive anything. We must
never submit to such unjust laws, never, and I think our resistance must be
active and provocative. I want to embarrass all those who wish to treat us
as slaves. I want to change their minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all
possess.”
17. How does Gandhi feel the Indian people should behave? Is his advice
followed?
“Massacre at Amritsar”
Description: The British attack a peaceful Muslim demonstration in Amritsar in Punjab
killing 379 and wounding 1,200 men, woman and children.
18. What was the rally about?
19. What reason did General Dyer give for firing on the unarmed civilians? Did
he offer any aid to the wounded civilians?
Secondary Source from the Encyclopedia Britannica
Gen. R.E.H Dyer was sent with troops from Jullundur to restore order, and,
though no further disturbances occurred in Amritsar until April 13, Dyer marched
50 armed soldiers into the Jallianwallah Bagh (Garden) that afternoon and
ordered them to open fire on a protest meeting attended by some 10,000
unarmed men, women, and children without issuing a word of warning. It was a
Sunday, and many neighboring peasants had come to Amritsar to celebrate a
Hindu festival, gathering in Bagh, which was a place for holding cattle fair and
other festivities. Dyer kept his troops firing for about ten minutes, until they had
shot 1650 rounds of ammunition into the terror-stricken crowd, which had no
way of escaping the Bagh, since the soldiers spanned the only exit. About 400
civilians were killed and some 1200 wounded. They were left without medical
attention by Dyer, who hastily removed his troops to the camp.
Dyer was relieved of his command, but he returned to England as a hero to many
British admirers, who presented him with a collect purse of thousands of pounds
and a jeweled sword inscribed “Saviour of the Punjab.”
“Gandhi Meets with the British Governor”
Description: Gandhi and the other Indian Leaders meet with the British
governor to discuss home rule and the massacre.
20. Gandhi tells the British that it is time to realize that they are master in
someone else’s home. What does Gandhi mean by this statement?
21. The British use a divide-and-conquer strategy against Gandhi and his
followers by telling Gandhi that the British are concerned with the minority
Muslim population. What is a divide-and-conquer strategy?
22. What is Gandhi’s response?
“The Great Salt March”
23. In 1930, Gandhi launches the “satyagraha” against the British tax on salt,
which affected the poorest Indians. This was one of the most spectacular and
successful campaigns against the British Crown. The British official states
that salt is a precious commodity and this part of the world depends
completely on water & salt. Theorize why this is true:
24. Describe the methods used in the protest.
“March on the Dharasana Salt Works”
Description: Dharasana Salt Works is the British salt making factory. The
Indians intend on protesting for its closure. This was done in protest in Gandhi’s
arrest.
25. Note that the women are preparing for the wounded. What does this
tell you that the protesters expected?
26. What is the reaction of Vince Walker (American Media)?
“Whatever moral ascendancy the West has had, it ____________________________________
today”
“Independence”
Description: With the outbreak of WWII in 1939, the Indian struggles for
independence entered its final phase. Indian hopes are put on hold as England
struggles to survive. There is another problem – the conflict between Indian
Hindus and Indian Muslims has grown bitter. The only solution seems to be the
partition of the country into two separate countries, one for Hindus and the other
for the Muslims. Independence finally arrives in 1947 with the creation of an
independent Indian and an independent Pakistan.
27. What is Gandhi against such a proposal?
28. Why does he feel it is necessary to avoid the partition?
29. Why do the Indian Muslims want a separate country (Pakistan)?
How does Gandhi propose to appease the Muslims if they agree to unify
India?
30. What do you think the spinning wheel symbol in the middle of the
Indian flag represents? Include both concrete & symbolic.
31. What do you think the crescent & star symbols represent in the flag
of Pakistan?